Earlier this month, LaTonya Lewis made history by becoming the first Black woman in the Baltimore Police Department to be promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. The promotion makes her the highest ranking Black woman in the history of the Baltimore force.
Her promotion was one of many new appointments and reorganizing efforts announced by Commissioner-designate Darryl De Sousa in recent weeks. As Lieutenant Colonel, “I’ll be responsible for communications, the watch center, RMS, as well as information technology, and my goal will be to support patrol and make sure that they have up-to-date technology in a timely fashion,” Lewis shared at a recent press conference.
Her initial exposure to the department was in 1994. She served as a parking control agent at the time and often times needed to leverage back up from Baltimore Police Officers when dealing with irate community members. After a while, some of the officers that she had repeatedly called suggested that she simply join the force and in 1996 she did just that.
Lewis has dedicated 21 years of service to the Baltimore Police Department. During her tenure, she has held patrol positions in the Southern, Western, and Northeastern districts of Baltimore and also served as commander of the Northwestern district. In addition, she has also lead initiatives in operations, neighborhood services, and education. Her hard work with the training division even earned her a bronze star of recognition.
While Lewis has been receiving an overwhelming amount of positive feedback and interest in becoming officers from female community members, she is focused around the priorities of her new role and is determined to help to rebuild BPD’s credibility in the Baltimore community.
“I’m really going to be more of a support for patrol officers on the street because they are the backbone of the agency. They can’t get their credibility back until they have the resources and technology they need to be successful on the street,” Lewis said.